The Orphanage in the Woods
by Xescay
Summary: One day, a man appears on Cloud's doorstep, half frozen in the melting snow, and stange things start to happen. Ten years later, Tifa and Cloud go legend tripping in an abandoned orphange. Story's waay better than summary. Reveiw, please?


Hi! I'm not dead, surprisingly!

DISCLAIMER: FF7 does not belong to me.

* * *

><p>Deep in the forests of Nibel lies a forgotten building. Its walls are rotten and its doors mouldy. Despite this, a small group of children reside within the darkest back room. Upon finding them, they will smile so sweetly smile at you, showing rows of fine, pearly teeth and as so politely, "Would you please play with us?"<p>

My name is Cloud Strife, and and this is the story of how I came upon these children, and joined them, forever singing that children's song, 'Kagome Kagome' to whoever chances upon us.

I suppose I should start from the beginning, to where it all began…

I guess it all started some twenty years ago, when an ashen faced stranger was found on our doorstep one morning, half frozen in the melting snow. He had come from the forest, that much was clear, as my family's house was the closest to the edge of the woods. The man was an enigma. He wore a lab coat, yet would constantly refuse to be sent back to ShinRa. He told us nothing about himself, only repeatedly demanded to be taken back to the forests.

Whispers began to circle about the village.

Was he a murderer?

Was he really a scientist?

Did he eat his family?

Was he even sane?

Winter passed as per normal with the whole village barely making it through. It was a joyous time for us. Soon, the snow would melt, and the trade routes would be clear again.

The advent of spring also meant that the scientist-man, whose name was Hojo, I would later find out, would petition the Council of Elders to grant him an escort to take him into the woods.

The Council, weary of his persistence, quickly granted his wish with barely a thought. They must have thought to themselves, 'What harm could it do?'

A lot of harm, it seems.

The Council sent with the him our strongest men - a safety precaution, they claimed, because the wolves might attack. As if. As if they'd attack. It was still to early in spring for them to be protecting their young.

So why did the Council send a travelling caravan of twelve men with him?

They were being overly cautious.

But why?

Surely those rumours were the gossip of old women!

Or was it because they knew something?

Were they hiding some kind of sinister secret?

Or was I simply being paranoid?

That night, only half a day after they'd left, I stared up at the ceiling, and became more and more afraid with every second that passed.

But monsters don't exist.

Right?

The next morning, the weather was perfect. The sun was shining, the birds chirping, the wind singing…. An ideal spring day.

I was only six at the time, still young and curious about the world. I had yet to hear the fabled birds-and-bees tale, and was as innocent as a small child should be.

As I frolicked about in the field, strong gusts began to blow, almost as if the wind were trying to push me away from the place. A knot of unease formed in my belly as I peeked up above the tall grasses to see redness.

Blood.

It was everywhere.

Blood.

It stained the fresh green grass.

Blood.

It splattered upon the stones and gravel in irregular drops.

Blood.

It seeped into formerly white linen, smearing onto bare skin.

Blood.

The world was swimming.

The world was a mish mash of reds and blues and purples and greens.

The world was… becoming dim.

Dimmer and dimmer, until I could see only one thing -

A single spot of blood plastered on the alabaster of my skin.

* * *

><p>Feathers.<p>

They surrounded me, protecting me, hiding me behind a shield of black and white.

Abrptly, they parted, to reveal four silhouettes.

"Hey! Who's there?" I reached out for them. "Who are you? Where am I?"

The tallest one, a tall and lanky figure, spoke. "SOLDIER."

The brightness engulfed them, swallowing them in an instant.

* * *

><p>"Cloud? Cloud, wake up. Cloud!" I heard a sort-of familiar voice call out an even more familiar name.<p>

Unexpectedly, all I knew was cold wetness, as a bucket of water was dumped on my head.

"Tifa!" I whined, shivering in the mid-afternoon breeze.

Tifa flashed me a quick grin. "Sorry! Couldn't help myself!"

Just as the last syllable slipped from her lips, the running figure of my mother reached the crest of a nearby hill. "Cloud! Oh, Cloud, that's where you are!"

Struggling for breath, she leaned on her knees as she told us something we thought - and hoped - we'd never hear.

"The travelling group with that…" she saved her hands in airy gestures. "That… madman…. Was found. Dead."

I felt as if an icy hand had gripped my heart and forced it to beat slowly, painfully.

"What? But…" My mind could hardly form the words; not that my mouth could do any better. I was left slack jawed by the news. "But…"

Tifa snapped out of her reverie almost as quickly as she had slipped into it.

"But how?" she asked. "How were they killed?"

My mother hesitated, as if she were unsure if she should divulge with us her information. Now that I think about it, perhaps it would have been better if she had kept silent. Then maybe I wouldn't still have nightmares about them.

"Well?" Tifa waited impatiently for my mother to answer. She tapped her foot loudly, as if she could coerce my mother to talk by doing so.

Perhaps it worked.

"Their…. Heads were…. Cut off…" My mother muttered.

Tifa gasped. Her eyes widened in shock. Here hands to hide her mouth.

My blood froze.

My mind went back to what I had seen earlier.

Back to the blood.

The blood…

Blood….

The world enveloped me in a warm blanket, and I just barely registered a dull thud before everything went black.

Stories were told across the village.

Stories about the mysterious scientist.

Stories about the restless souls of our dead (because a spirit cannot rest if the body is not intact and buried together).

And, most embarrassingly, stories about how I… fainted.

I swear, Tifa can be such a gossip at times!

Slowly, as spring bled into summer, the rumours grew quieter.

Quieter, but no less outrageous.

I guess that's what happens when you live in a backwater town with a population that's barely over a hundred.

Anything can become gossip.

And gossip can become anything.

* * *

><p>Ten years passed.<p>

Nothing happened.

The old ladies (dare I call them ladies?) gossip about nothing.

Life is quiet.

Almost too quiet.

"Come one Cloud! Please? Pretty please?" Tifa begged me. "Pretty please with one great gigantic cherry on top?"

She grabbed my arm, hugging it against her chest.

My face went red as people turned to snicker.

"Fine, I'll go…"

It was a decision I knew I'd regret.

Dear reader, I understand that right now, you're asking yourself just what I'd agreed to.

Well, I'd agreed to a stupid thing, really. There's no other way I that I can think of to describe it. It was stupid. We went legend tripping.

Legend tripping where?

Well, legend tripping in a forgotten orphanage deep in the forests of Mount Nibel. The place where the scientist man was rumoured to have held his experiments.

Now you see what a stupid idea it was?

If only time could go backward… But even so, I doubt my fate would have been any different. Destiny does have an awful habit of coming back to bite you if it misses the first time.

And besides, Tifa's (unfortunately) really good at persuading people (AKA me) to do what she wants. And it might have something to do with the torture kit she hides underneath her bed.

That, and my low threshold for pain.

Sorry, I'm getting sidetracked. Back to the story…

It was a full moon that night. The silvery light cast an eerie glow on the trees, giving them an other worldly feel.

"In here," Tifa whispered before ducking beneath an overhanging branch.

Hesitantly, I followed her into the consuming darkness, unknowing of where I was stepping, only what I was getting myself into.

But even of that I was unsure.

Tifa parted the leaves for me, letting me walk through the thick undergrowth with some ease.

Eventually, the trees thinned out, gradually revealing a giant clock at first, then some windows, and finally a door with a faded sign bearing the word 'Orphanage' hanging lopsidedly above it.

"Come on, Cloud! This is great!" Tifa glanced at me, her brown eyes wide with excitement.

Sighing, I followed her across the gravel to the rotting wooden doors which gaped open to reveal a black maw of evil.

Inside, there were sparsely furnished rooms for the children. Each contained a single bed, a sink and a toilet.

We searched most of the building (the eastern wing had completely disintegrated and had collapsed on itself). Only three rooms had looked like they'd ever been occupied, the first room having a book with 'Loveless' embossed on the cover in gold print. The second had a dusty chipped plate laid on a neatly made bed. The third room displayed what could be described as a mess. The bed had been slept on, and had not been made. Water marks stained the silvery surface of the mirror. Black feathers lay strewn on the floor and bed, as if a bird had made its home in the place many years ago. Within the fourth room, a three-metre-long sword leaned in a corner, promising much pain, despite its owner's dissappearance.

Four rooms.

Four out of what must be something like a hundred.

What happened to the children?

Where did they disappear to?

Somehow, I felt that I knew the answer to that question.

"Cloud…" Tifa looked at me, her face unnaturally pale, contrasting with the murkiness that surrounded us. "Can we… get out of here…?"

She had been looking in one of the rooms. It was labeled 'the Kitchen'. A horrible feeling washed over me, but was quickly countered with reasoning thought. Maybe they'd left some kind of animal carcass in there? I hope that's all…

No such luck.

I peered into the room, heart pounding in my mouth, body ready to entertain the 'fight-or-flight' instinct.

And screamed.

Well, would have screamed, had Tifa not slammed her hand into my mouth as if she had expected me to do so.

Inside, the walls were splattered in blood. A small child sat on the floor, sobbing. He looked no older than seven or eight. Men sporting white lab coats circled him, singing a haunting child's play song.

"Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa

Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake no banni

Tsuru to kame to subetta

Ushiro na shoumen daare?"

"Circle you circle you, the bird in the cage

When will you come out?

In the evening of the dawn

The crane and turtle slipped

Who stands behind you now?"

"Hojo," the boy whispered, his shoulders quaking in fear.

"Wrong," the man in front of him said. "I'm here."

That scientist, the one who had said that… his wire frame glasses and oily black rat-tail seemed so familiar….

I gasped.

It couldn't be! Not the guy who'd appeared on our doorstep ten years ago!

The man stepped forward, and then did I see the cleavers in their hands.

I hadn't noticed them before.

But Tifa had.

She wanted to run, to escape the carnage that would come.

But we watched in instead, with horrified fascination, as they stepped closer and closer to the boy's slender frame, who had once again begun to sob. They grinned mockingly as they neared and chorused with practised perfection, "You just lost the game."

The man standing behind the boy leapt forth and grabbed a handful of moonlit hair, yanking the boy's head back. The boy's mouth opened in a silent gasp as his head was jerked back violently, crystalline tears forming in the corners of his eyes. Argent hair pooled on the concrete floor as he leaned back to lessen the pain. His emerald eyes looked up hesitantly to meet those of the man who loomed over him. He looked so frightened, so small…

"You know what that means, don't you?" the man who clutched the beautiful silver locks sneered menacingly. He drew a finger across his neck, simulating a blade slicing through his neck.

The boy's eyes widened and he scrambled to his feet, trying desperately to get away, but his hair held him in place, and tears began to fall freely down his alabaster cheeks.

The man tutted. "No, no, no. Sonny, that's not how we play around here…"

He grabbed the back of the boy's collar and raised him to eye level. Raising the cleaver slowly, he grinned maniacally.

I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the bloodshed.

But there was only silence.

The final blow never came.

There was no sickening squelch of metal slicing flesh, no crunching as the blade cut through his spine.

Nothing.

Just out heaving, and the sound of my heart beating heavily in my chest.

Was that all my imagination?

I glanced at Tifa.

No, it couldn't be. Tifa's eyes were wide as she searched the jet black room for signs of the butchery, looking for the bloodstained argent hair, the limp body and lifeless eyes.

But there was none.

Just brown splatters on the ground, illumed by the meagre moonlight that trickled through the cracks between the shutters.

They were about to cut off his head.

The twelve bodies had been found without their heads.

Who was this Hojo man?

Why was he about to cut the boy's head off?

What did this all have to do with the incident a decade ago?

What was this place?

What happened to that boy?

Who were the other three orphans?

What happened to them?

I was given no time to think, as Tifa had seized my hand and was already dragging me to the door, eager to get away from the demons the place harboured within its shadows.

But not before I saw it.

The one thing that made me come back.

On the far wall, written in brown blood, was a single word. A word that had been uttered to me in a dream ten years ago, in a dream.

SOLDIER.

* * *

><p>The next day, the village was bathed in gossip.<p>

The guys congratulated me on my 'ascension to manhood' and thumped me on the back. The girls didn't look down on me as they usually did.

My parents weren't so impressed.

"You should know better than to go to a haunted place in the middle of the night," my father berated me. "You should know not to look at ghosts - they could have taken your soul! The building could have collapsed on your heads and taken your lives. That Tifa's a bad influence on you."

He continued to go on and on and on about my stupidity and weakness of heart and mind for the rest of the day, stopping only when we had dinner.

My mother simply looked at me despairingly, pleading me to tell her that the rumours were all lies, and that I had not been legend tripping with Tifa Lockhart the night before.

I wanted to say that, but…

I couldn't. I couldn't lie to her like that.

I felt so guilty, like the world's blame had been put onto my shoulders.

But that word, 'SOLDIER' and the mysterious boy kept calling me back to the orphanage. They beckoned to me, back to that rat-ridden bat home.

You know, I really agree with my father.

I do have a weak will and a weak mind, because, the very next night, like a bee to a flower (or perhaps a detective to the truth behind a mystery), huddled in a wolf skin jacket, under the pretence of sleep, I slipped out of my home and made my way to the orphanage under a blanket of stars.

I could think of a million excuses as to why:

Because I could not resist it's call.

Because the mystery was too tempting.

Because I wanted to prove myself to my mother and father and show to them that I was no longer a little boy, but instead, a stronger young man.

Because I was young and foolish.

I could continue the list for ages and stretch it out to a million reasons why, but the truth would still prevail, and that truth was nothing but pure emotion.

I was sure I had seen that boy before from somewhere, and I wanted to help him.

Yeah, like I said; young and foolish.

* * *

><p>Once again, I looked up at the orphanage building, barely making out what the sign read. Plants grew out of the very walls, camouflaging it from a passer-by's view.<p>

As if there'd be a passer-by in this part of the forest, anyway.

Sucking in a deep lungful of the chilly mountain air, I strode to the fallen door and stepped over it, entering the orphanage's world of darkness once more.

"Kagome kagome, kaga no naka no tori wa…" Someone's voice drifted to my ears. It was a baritone voice, full of feeling.

"Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake noban ni," A second voice joined the first, adding a happier, livelier tone to the song.

"Tsuru to kame to subetta," A new voice sang the next line. It was a deep, rich voice. One that I was sure I'd heard before.

But from where had I heard it?

"Ushiro no shoumen daare," A fourth voice broke my train of thought. Flamboyant, melodious and dramatic, it was the voice of a true actor.

Then it hit me. That child from the night before. That tall silhouette from ten years ago. It was him. That third voice. The one who had drawn me here. The four missing orphans who had once lived here. The four shadows from my dream a decade ago. They were one and the same. But… where were they? Hiding in one of the rooms?

I braced myself for whatever horrific sight I might encounter and walked down the hallway, into the gloomy evilness, ready to encounter a past that should, beyond a doubt, remain a mystery.

The floor boards creaked underfoot as I stepped into the murky hall, hesitantly stepping and wincing with every sound the ancient floorboards made. Keeping yourself from panicking was hard; the hall was darker than a moonless night, and the walls, though hidden in the dark, felt like an ominous, squishing you into a tiny, mushy ball of fear and adrenaline.

"Ok, Cloud. You've made it this far. You can keep on going…" My voice sounded so small and quiet in the long, dark corridor. It wobbled slightly with every breath, and suddenly, I felt even more afraid then ever. What if I wasn't alone? What if there was a monster standing right behind me? I gritted my teeth and tried to stop thinking scary thoughts, but they only increased, each monster become more and more scary with every step. Red eyes flashed from the swirling murkiness and crimson blood, dripping from razor sharp white fangs, splashed onto the ground in steady drops. Something wet dribbled onto my face, reeking of the metallic stench of blood, and I yelped, nearly jumping back into a roughly hewn wall. "Calm down… There's no monsters…"

Suddenly, the floor gave way beneath me. A cloud of dust surrounded me, making it even more difficult to reach out for the ground-turned-ceiling. My arms flailed in the air and my eyes looked around in blind panic, not quite sure where was up and where was down.

"Cloud!" someone grabbed my arm and my body jerked to a standstill, my elbow protesting at the abrupt stop. Blunt nails dug painfully into the sensitive flesh of my inner arm and I could have sworn that I felt tiny beads of blood welling up and rolling down the length of my arm.

"Tifa?" I blinked the confusion away and rubbed my eyes vigorously in an attempt to remove the bits of dust and tiny debris lodged in the corners of my eyes. "What are you doing here?"

She grinned weakly at me and hefted up a large beige folder over her shoulder. "Went studying and thought you might wanna know what I found. You won't believe what this Hojo guy did…"

Hojo. The name struck home.

"Well, help me up, then we'll see if what he did was truly that unbelievable."

"Yeah, yeah," Tifa strained against my weight, eventually pulling me over the edge of the hole. "Gee, Cloud. What would you do without me?"

I grinned. "Fall down a hole and become a ghost?"

She snorted, then threw the folder at my feet. It landed with a loud slap on the dull timber floorboards. "Read it. It's the stuff of nightmares."

I read it.

_Professor Hojo, the head of ShinRa's Science Department, has unveiled his new plans for the SOLDIER project, which is due to begin within the month, according to one of his many assistants. _

"_It will mark a new era of warfare," he told us in an exclusive interview. "A new era where superhuman weapons will fight for us, drastically reducing the number of casualties on out side from hundreds of thousands to only a few; say one or two._

"SOLDIER," I muttered.

"Huh?" Tifa turned to face me. "Yeah, but that's just part of it. Read the next clipping."

_The head of ShinRa's Science department, Professor Hojo, has been found at a pseudo-orphanage deep in the Nibel Forest. An undercover reporter entered the facility and uncovered the professor's inhumane experiments for us all to see. _

"_There were four children," she told us. "Sephiroth, Angeal Hewley, Genesis Rhapsodos and Zack Fair. He often cut off their limbs and sewed them back on as part of his experiments. He also used strange chemicals on them, which often made them terribly sick. One day, he even took out Sephiroth's brain and from it made what he refers to as an 'Elixir of Eternal Life'."_

I shuddered from the thought. "Did they have a photo of the four children?"

"Yeah, on one of the follow-up pages," Tifa helped me flip through the numerous newspaper clippings. "Here."

Four faces stared up at me from the thin paper. It was a black and white photo, but I could easily identify the boy from last night.

"Sephiroth…" I read from the caption. "What the hell happened to you?"

"Who's Sephiroth?"

"The boy from yesterday."

"No jokes?"

"Nope."

Tifa sat back. "So what we saw was them taking out his brain, like what that journalist was talking about?"

"Maybe. Hey, Tifa, when were these papers published?"

She shrugged. "Read the dates."

"January 29, 2901."

She blew a stray strand of hair out of her face. "That long ago? So that elixir really worked then, huh?"

"If the elixir worked, then why were those scientists cutting off his head?" I pointed out the obvious flaw in her conclusion.

She shrugged nonchalantly. "Maybe they're like, ghosts of the past, you know?"

"You seem really cool about this."

"Well, you gotta keep cool, or else you'll end up dead," She stood up and smirked. "Just like you nearly did. Now, you coming with me, or what?"

I nodded. "Don't you dare go without me, Tifa!"

She smiled a rare, genuine smile. "Don't plan on it, partner."

As we walked to the end of the hallway, I felt strengthened with her strong presence so close to me. The walls no longer seemed like they were trying to press me flat, and the monsters which had been hiding in the shadows for an opportunity to strike seemed to have vanished into thin air.

"Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa," voices sang cheerily in the room to our right. The door had resisted decay so far, and blocked the room from our view. Flecks of dark green paint clung to the splintering wood in irregular clumps. A simple brass doorknob jutted out awkwardly out of the wood. It's tarnished surface was stark against the darkness of the doorway. Light streamed from beneath the door, suggesting the presence of ominous creatures.

I glanced at Tifa for a second, before reaching for the handle and turning it. It felt so otherworldly, so surreal, as it turned, that I felt as if I were a spirit, floating overhead and watching my corporeal body as it opened the door and entered the room. A chilly wind blew from an open window in the room and brought me back to reality, though.

Inside, four children encircled a man, their teacher, with their hands joined in an innocent way, as they laughed and ran around him, singing, "Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake no ban ni."

They all seemed so happy in their own little world, so oblivious to the reality. Maybe they wore a mask of happiness in the day, and faced their demons in the dead of night?

"Tsuru to kame to subetta."

There was an auburn haired boy who looked about eight or nine. His eyes were bright azure, and shone like little gems in an alabaster canvas. His limbs were long and slender, his skin the colour of marble. His body had an effeminate curve to it, hiding his strength behind a beauteous mask, and it matched his graceful movements.

Genesis, I thought.

The second boy was taller and more heavily built than Genesis. His hair was black and slicked back, save for two strands which hung in front of his face. His eyes were blue and showed much kindness in them. He seemed like a gentle giant in the group.

Angeal.

The third boy was as tall as Sephiroth. His hair was the colour of raven feathers and his eyes were as blue as the skies on a sunny day. He was built similarly to Angeal, with broad shoulders and a less graceful stature. His eyes shone with excitement and fun. He was the most enthusiastic of the four, the one who participated in the game the most.

Zack.

Then there was Sephiroth, the tall quiet boy with the strange argent hair and the feline virescent eyes.

The first SOLDIER. The first tortured soul.

"Cloud, stop staring at them!" Tifa hissed at me. "They might notice us!"

"How? They're not even real," I countered.

"What the hell are you talking about? Of course they're real! Has this place finally gotten to you?"

"I'll prove it to you, Tifa. They're not real, and I'm gonna prove it to you."

Having said that, I wasn't entirely sure that I was right. Despite my doubts, however, I sauntered to the middle of the brightly lit room and stood right next to them.

"No, Cloud! Don't!"

I stepped into the circle and turned to face Tifa, my hands on my hips, and my eyebrows cocked amusedly as I watched them dissipate into thin air.

"Cloud…" Tifa breathed.

I grinned like an idiot. I felt really pleased wit myself, having finally stood up for myself for the first time ever. Normally, I would have never managed to must the courage to do so. Maybe Tifa was right. Maybe the place was getting to me.

Tifa walked, no, stomped, to me, and suddenly, my cheek caught fire as she slapped me. The air was forced out of my lungs as Tifa's arms encircled my waist in a tight bear hug which turned my insides to mush.

"Tifa…" I began.

"Yes?" She looked up at me expectantly, batting her eyelashes in a ridiculous fashion.

"I… can't breathe…" I gasped for breath, finally understanding what a fish must feel like after being taken out of the water.

"Oh, sorry," she released me. "Oh, and just 'cos I hugged ya, it don't mean I like ya or nothin'. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. You don't need to go all defensive on me."

"I'm not being defensive!" Tifa's face went redder than a beetroot.

I laughed, before an awkward silence enveloped the space between us, until a voice cut through it like a knife through butter.

"Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa."

We both glanced at the previously unnoticed door at the back of the room. It was labeled 'Back Room'. A lifetime ago, it must have been painted in light blue, but now, the door was dull and devoid of colour.

I turned to face Tifa, silently asking a question - 'should we go check it out?' Tifa glanced up at me hesitantly, her brown eyes big and fearful. She gulped, and hesitantly nodded her head.

Slowly, I crept up to the door and pushed it open, hiding to the side as it creaked. I crashed into a bookcase, and the stench of rotting wood filled my nose. Dust flew around me as I did, choking me.

"Who's there?" a melodic voice asked.

Gathering all the courage I had, I peered behind the doorframe and called out, "Me, Cloud."

Instantly, their faces lit up.

"Ah! Cloud! We've been waiting for you for so long! We're so happy! Please play with us for a little while!"

They all looked so innocent and delighted that I could not help but except. "Of course I will."

"Yay! Let's play kagome kagome!" Zack smiled in total enrapture.

"Ok! I'll be the little bird!" I sat myself down on the middle of the floor and covered my eyes with my hands, plunging myself into a world of darkness.

"Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa

Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake no ban ni

Tsuru to kame to subetta

Ushiro no shoumen daare?"

"Um… Genesis?" I guessed.

"Nope!" Genesis's musical voice called out. "You just lost the game."

My blood froze. Those words. 'You just lost the game.'

I scrambled to my knees. "Tifa, run!"

I looked at the four children. Their faces were no longer smiling happily, but instead, were now grinning maniacally.

"Don't run away! We'll miss you!" Zack cried sweetly.

I felt almost compelled to stay.

Almost.

"Argh! Tifa, run!" I gunned it, Sephiroth hot on my heels. Wind blasted my face as I ran, blowing my hair back in long streamers of golden blonde hair.

Genesis soon caught up with unnatural ease.

"You made Zack cry. That's not very nice," his melodic voice took on a reprimanding tone. I nearly laughed aloud from the strangeness of my situation.

"Please drink with us. We insist!" Zack appeared in front of me unexpectedly. His eyes twinkled hopefully in the light streaming from the window.

I turned to escape, to find that they had me cornered against a wall. A pathetic whimper escaped my lips as they moved to reveal a fearful sight I had hoped not to see.

"I was right behind you," Angeal said. He held a cleaver in his hand, its sharp edge glinting wickedly, in a way that reminded me of the night before. He stepped closer, the floorboards creaking with his steps.

"Run, Cloud!" Tifa's face appeared from behind Angeal's shoulder.

The sound of her voice imbued me with a strength I never knew I had. Or maybe it was just adrenaline rushing through my system.

I pushed the person in front of me to the side and sprinted away as quickly as I could. "Let's get outta here, Tifa!"

I caught up with Tifa outside the horror-orphanage.

"That… was… too close," I gasped as I slowed to a walk.

"Don't slow down!" Tifa hissed. "They're right behind us!"

"Oh," I quickened my pace to brisk walk-run. "Let's get going. Shall we?"

"Oh, Cloud, please don't go! We'll miss you so much!" Zack's voice pleaded.

"Yeah. You can play with us forever!" Sephiroth cheered. "I'll forgive you for pushing me if you do!"

"You pushed over a little kid?" Tifa gave me an admonishing stare. "What happened to the perfect gentleman I always expected of you, Cloud?"

"What? They were going to kill me!" I defended myself.

"I was kidding! No need to go all defensive about it!"

My face went red as she recited what I had said only a few hours ago. "I'm not being defensive!"

The leaves around us rustled. Even in the half-lit gloom, I could already tell that they had us trapped.

Again.

An owl hooted as it flew above. The wind blew forebodingly, just as it had a decade ago, and this time, I knew exactly what it was warning me of.

Only, I couldn't avoid what was going to happen to me this time, not even if I wanted to. Images of silver blades and black iron swept through my mind like a hurtling train of death running dead straight into my gut, which was a horrible mess of knots anyway.

"Oh, Cloud, is what why you don't want to play with us? Because you'll have to leave your girlfriend?" Zack piped.

"Don't worry! You can play with us and have your girlfriend!" Genesis said.

My face went red from what they said. Beetroot red. "Tifa's not my girlfriend!"

"Oh, so you don't love me?" Tifa smiled.

Darn, she was cunning.

"Aww, that's so cute!" Genesis gushed.

What sort of movies does he watch? Do they even have a TV?

"Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Zack squealed.

And kiss we did. It wasn't at all like that passionate, romantic stuff you see on TV. Nah, it was just a quick peck on the lips.

"Let's go," Tifa said, holding my hand in hers.

"No, you go. They won't ever stop looking for me, so…" I shook my head.

"Why? Because you like them better than me?"

I closed my eyes. I couldn't stand seeing Tifa so hurt, but it was for the best. "No, it's because…"

"Save it, Strife. You never really liked me and you just pretended to be my friend so you wouldn't feel like such a loner. Have fun with your new 'friends'. I wonder how long you'll stick with them until you move on."

She left, her eyes brimming with tears.

Sometimes, I regret that that decision. Most of the time, I don't, because she's more of a spoilt brat then she lets on, but sometimes, I feel like I betrayed my one and only friend at the time.

"Thank you, Cloud, for agreeing to stay and play with us!" Zack smiled as he emerged from the trees. Some of the leaves were stuck in his hair, and he looked a little like a puppy after rolling in a garden.

"Now, let's start our game again!" Angeal said.

I sat on my knees. The moon shone down on the little clearing where we were, giving everything an ethereal glow. I smiled gently and sighed before hiding my eyes behind my hands once more. It'd be nice to play here at night again with them.

They joined hands and began to sing that song again, their soft voices weaving into a simple, yet beautiful, melody.

"Kagome kagome, kago no naka no tori wa

Itsu itsu deyaru? Yoake no ban ni

Tsuru to kame to subetta

Ushiro no shoumen daare?"

"Um… Zack?" I guessed again.

"Nope!" Sephiroth said. "It was Genesis."

"My friend, do you fly away now?" said boy questioned.

That line, wasn't it from LOVELESS? What does he do in his spare time?

"Nope. You'll just keep chasing me. And besides, I like playing with you lot."

"Awesome!" Zack cheered. "Let's play again, after we eat!"

"Mm, I agree. I'm starving," Sephiroth grinned.

"I'll cook!" Angeal offered.

"Yeah!" Cloud hasn't tried your wonderful cooking yet!" Genesis added enthusiastically.

"I can't wait to try it," I smiled.

As Genesis drew nearer, I felt something I'd never felt before - a sense of belonging. I'd never fit in a crowd before; not with my schoolmates, who all thought I was a wuss, and not with my parents, who believed that I was more trouble than I was worth. Now, I could be part of a group who did not secretly despise me and called me things behind my back. Finally, I could be part of a group in which I could talk without ever making a 'social stumble', a faux pas. Now, I could forever be the kid I never got to be.

I smiled as an inner calm took over me, swathing me in a warm blanket of reassurance and tranquility. I wasn't afraid of dying anymore, partly because I knew I would come back, but mainly because I finally belonged.

Each step that Genesis took sounded both loud and soft at the same time. The whole forest itself seemed to have switched on its mute switch to bear witness to my passage into eternal life. The blade made a snicking sound as it was freed from its sheath.

Now, I could be free of all my troubles and life a happy, carefree life. Now, I could be myself, and never be scared of showing my true personality. Now, I could be with people who cared for me, and I, for them.

And the best part?

It would all last for all of eternity.

* * *

><p>Thank you for reading!<p>

Please review! It's what keeps me writing!

-Xescay, XIV-


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